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“I Want To Improve My English”

“I want to improve my English” is something I have heard thousands of times since I started teaching online.  My response, “Just do it”.

Learning a new language requires a lot of work and dedication.  It takes willpower to make the choice to spend time on improving the language instead of doing something else (that may be more fun).  Since I am an English teacher, I’m going to focus on that language, but this advice can be applied to learning any language and maybe even other areas of your life that you would like to make a change.

Are you ready for this?

It is very easy for us to say that we want to make a change, but actually doing it is another thing.  People often make statements that they want to do something and at the time they may have full intentions of doing so, but they haven’t really put thought into what the change means for them.

From my experience, the main obstacle for learning English is time.  It takes a lot of time to learn a new language and this is a long-term process, so it needs to be well thought out.  When students and I discuss their history with English, many tell me that they have learned ‘on and off’ for years.  I think people get discouraged along the way because of lack of focus or feelings of being overwhelmed by the time it takes.

Ask yourself, “Why do I want to improve my English?”  Personal motivation is key in a process such as this.  Be honest with yourself about the commitment and if you are really ready to do this.

Make a plan

You have decided to take this journey, so now what?  Set a goal.  Simply “I want to improve my English” is not what I am talking about.  In fact, set a few goals, milestones along the way that you want to reach.  I can help you with these based on your level.

As with diets or fitness equipment- you will see lots of advertisements for QUICK results and gimmicks like “Learn English FAST”.  I believe it is the same process as it is with living a healthy lifestyle, the change will not happen overnight.  There is no magic solution to improve your English fast.

For a beginner, the first goal could be to speak with a native speaker for 5 minutes.  Nothing crazy, just something that is beyond the point you are at now.  Perhaps it could be to send me a voice recording on Snapchat!  These goals need to be well thought out and written down.  Writing things down makes them real!  Get your Daily Routine together and remember to keep it interesting.

You also need to figure out how to hold yourself accountable.  What is going to keep you on track?  What will keep you focused on your goal?  I like the site Coach.Me which allows you to enter your goals and keep track of them.   Hopefully you will soon be able to see your results and that will keep you going!

English goals

Revisit the plan and reassess

After two weeks, take time aside to review your study patterns and English learning behavior.  Was your initial plan too much?  Are you not able to spend the time you thought?  Maybe you can spend more time on English than you originally thought.

Everybody is different.  You need to take your needs and your life into consideration during this process.  Your colleague may have used a program that worked great for him, but for you- it just doesn’t make sense.  That is OK!  It’s a flexible process with many variations.  On my twitter account, I am always sharing new sites and exercises to help people practice.  Find what works for you!

There are endless resources available to you.  Reach out to me, I spend time everyday on social media helping students to practice and answering questions they have.  At the end of the day, you just to JUST DO IT, take the first step and make the serious decision to once and for all, improve your English.

 

willpower (noun) the ability to control your thoughts and actions in order to achieve what you want to do 
milestone (noun) a significant stage or event in the development of something
gimmick (noun) a trick or device intended to attract attention, publicity, or trade
hold accountable (phrase) to consider someone responsible for something
reassess (verb) to think again about something to decide if you need to change your opinion of it
once and for all (phrase) completely and finally
*practice using these words in the comments section and I will check them and give you feedback*

 

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What are the Differences: Speaking with a Professional Teacher on Skype, Language Exchange and Language Partners

Active Practice.  I am always talking about active practice and actively speaking and using English.  How can you do this online?

To actively practice you have to produce the language- mainly speaking in this case (writing is also great too!)  I’m an online English teacher, so speaking with me (or any other teacher) is an excellent way to get practice, but there are other options out there that you can do it for free.  Let’s have a look and compare the pros and cons of speaking with a professional teacher, doing language exchange and having language partners.

Sessions with a Professional Teacher

Pros

  • Native Speaker- Unless you are a beginner and need someone who can speak your language to explain things to you, you should be doing English sessions on Skype with an English native speaker so that you can hear their pronunciation and try to speak like that yourself.
  • Corrections- Professional teachers will identify your mistakes and correct you.
  • Pronunciation- Besides you hearing their pronunciation, they will listen to yours and make suggestions on how to improve it.
  • Knowledge- Professional teachers have certifications to teach English as a foreign language as well as knowledge gained through working with other students.  They know what works and what doesn’t based on previous experiences.  They can work with students of all levels.
  • Consistency– Speaking with the same teacher will help you to feel comfortable while speaking English and this leads to improvement and confidence.
  • Organization- There is a topic planned before each session and the teacher is there to make sure that you are getting the best experience possible during your time together.

Cons

  • Cost- Depending on where you live in the world, the price of native English speaking teachers may be out of your price range.

Language Exchange

Language exchange is when you find someone who wants to learn your language and you want to learn theirs.   Usually you split the time in half – half your language / half their language.

Pros

  • Cost- Language exchange is free!  You give some of your time to help someone and they do the same for you.
  • Flexible- There are web-sites that connect people who want to speak English at any time of day- like http://www.speaking24.com/
  • Camaraderie– You feel as an equal with your language exchange partner because you are both learners.
  • Pronunciation- If both people are native speakers, it is a great opportunity to pay attention to pronunciation and natural speech patterns.

Cons

  • No organization- a common complaint I have heard from students is that they don’t know what to talk about when they meet for language exchange.  Who is in charge of the conversation?
  • Lack of consistency- People come and go.  You may have a chat with someone one time and then they disappear, so then you have to search to find someone new and you repeat the same “where are you from” “what do you do?” basic conversation.
  • Lack of knowledge- Unless you get lucky and your language exchange friend is a teacher, you will most likely not be getting the type of corrections that you would from a professional teacher.  Even though they are a native speaker, they won’t have the experience in explaining grammatical structures and why you use a certain word in a certain situation.

Language Partners

Language partners are very similar to language exchange, but you are both learning the same language so you use your time together to speak in a common language.   It has some of the same pros and cons as language exchange, but the main difference is that usually neither of the partners is a native speaker of the language being used.

Pros

  • Cost- It’s free!  Just sign up for a site like https://www.interpals.net/ and start your partner search.
  • Friendship- You may meet someone who you get along with really well and share common interests with and a friendship can be formed from across the globe.
  • Practice- You get to speak.  Sometimes people just need to open their mouth and start speaking.

Cons

  • Non-native speakers- You may get lucky and find a native speaker who will just chat with you in their native language (without practicing yours), but generally people are looking to practice their spoken English, so the emphasis is on speaking and finding someone who will listen- no matter who they are.
  • Difference of level- Finding someone at your level may be difficult, especially the for intermediate and advanced speakers.  Often the partner sites are full of beginners and lower level students.
  • Lack of correction- If both people are learning, they may not have the knowledge of the language to identify each other’s mistakes and make corrections.
  • Lack of knowledge- Language partners are just normal everyday people, so they don’t have experience leading a class nor with explaining things.

 

Pros and Cons (plural noun) the favorable and the unfavorable factors or reasons; advantages and disadvantages 
consistency (noun) the ability to remain the same in behavior, attitudes, or qualities
camaraderie (noun) mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together
*practice using these words in the comments section and I will check them and give you feedback*

 

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Around the World ‘Round Table’ Discussion

Round Table : a number of people gathered together for conference, discussion of some subject, etc., and often seated at a round table.

Round Table discussions are an excellent way for you to get a chance to practice speaking English with someone from another country and at the same time, learn a bit about their culture and everyday life!  You will be exposed to other accents and participate in a ‘real-life’ conversation with someone you have never met before in a comfortable, friendly environment.  The general topics are endless and if possible, we can even arrange for you to speak with someone who also works in your industry.

Sessions

I will serve as the ‘host’ making sure that the conversation keeps flowing and that everyone gets a chance to speak.

Generally we will speak in an order assigned at the beginning of the session. Person 1 gives their answer, 2, then 3 and then it is open for discussion as I see fit.  I will help keep the order by speaking directly to the student when they are to answer.  During the open discussion, participants must be courteous and not interrupt or speak over other people.  At any time, I reserve the right to remove someone from the call.

I will keep running notes of vocabulary, grammar issues and sentence structure in the Skype chat.

Scheduling

This options is only available to SkypEnglish4U clients (join today!) that are ‘pre-approved’ and have the appropriate level of English required to partake in one of these group exercises.

Each SE4U student will get one free 30min AWRT credit and will schedule it with me.  If a student wants to participate in more, they will pay a % out of their existing sessions based on the people participating in the call– If there are 2 students, for 30min, they each will spend 15min of their existing packages.  The maximum amount of students per call is 3.

You will see specific times labeled as ‘Round Table’ on my google calendar and you can select them just as you regularly schedule.  I will be very flexible with these sessions… if you want to do one at a certain time, please let me know and I will try to find another student.

15 Ways to Be Happier in 2015

New year. Happier me.

I’ve never been a huge fan of the resolution list craze and I don’t believe in holding off on pursuing goals that can be accomplished before the first of the year. That may be the overachiever in me talking. I’m all about personal development, but getting in better shape, eating healthier and spending more time with family can all start now depending on how bad you really want it right?

So for the purpose of this list, I’ll focus on what it all comes down to anyway — being happy. Starting new routines, kicking old habits and living the way we really want is largely based on our desire to genuinely be the happiest person we know. Who doesn’t want to be that person?!

Before we raise our champagne flutes and toast to the beginning of the New Year, here are 15 ways we can be happier when it’s time to greet 2015.

Cues the “Auld Lang Syne.”

1. Slow down and enjoy the little moments.

Stop being too busy to taste the flavors in your food, to hear yourself think, to watch the sunset or to listen to the words of your favorite song.

2. Say no to time-wasters and space-fillers.

Your days are valuable and should only involve valuable things and people. You can’t be everywhere at once and you can’t be everything to everybody. Choose what and who is deserving of your time and let the rest fall by the wayside.

3. Be more honest and open with yourself.

What do you really want to do with your life? Is the current path you’re on something you’re passionate about or are you doing it because society’s roadmap told you so? Stop getting in more debt attending a grad school program that does not align with your passion.

4. Take more risks.

Seriously. Get out there and get messy. Make mistakes and fail a few times. Fail again after that. Let the challenges help build your character because the success that follows will be worth it.

5. Assess your circle of friends.

Are you constantly giving and listening to other’s drama and not receiving anything in return? Do the people you lean on really support and uplift you? Do you genuinely feel like they have your best interest at heart? Remember, the five people you spend time with the most are a telling sign of who you are.

6. Realize the past can’t be changed.

Like ever. Stop reliving what could have been or obsessing over how the situation may have played out differently if you would have gotten one more word in or reacted better. It didn’t work out for a reason. Take the lesson from it and find comfort in knowing that what’s meant for you will come in due time.

7. Find the time to help someone in need.

Lend a listening ear or a firm shoulder to lean on. You never know when the person doing the needing will end up being you.

8. Stop making excuses for not living out your dream.

If others can do it, so can you. A few years from now, you’ll be upset with yourself for all the time you wasted and find yourself stuck dwelling on what could have been.

9. Be happy for others.

Being jealous or fake happy is draining. Genuinely be happy for other’s success because you’ll want them to be happy for you when you share your good news.

10. Give what you’d like to receive.

If you’re seeking compassion, show it to others. What goes around, always comes back around.

11. Leave expectations at the door.

People grow, change and make mistakes. Some people will help you while others will attempt to bring you down. Don’t expect too much from anyone either way. The only person’s actions and mind you can control is your own.

12. Validate yourself.

Don’t worry about what others think or don’t think of you. What weight does their opinion carry anyway? Think highly of yourself and give yourself permission to be great.

13. Stop settling.

Being single is better than being unhappy and working 80 hours a week doing something you love is better than working eight hours a week doing something you hate.

14. Respect your own privacy.

Keep some things to yourself. Not everyone needs to know every detail about your relationship or what’s going on at your job, even if they are family and friends. Savor certain moments despite the burning desire to show and prove.

15. Live in your own purpose.

Don’t follow the crowds. Trying to emulate others deters you from that special path you were meant to take. Be inspired from their journey and put that energy into who you were meant to become.

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BUSY OR PRODUCTIVE?

Today I want to ask you a question about how you are studying to improve your English:  Many students believe they are too busy to spend any time studying or learning new words or skills outside of class time.  The question that needs answering is, “Are you being productive, or are you just being busy?” There’s a huge difference between the two!

I want you to imagine busy as being like an octopus with roller-skates. You have eight legs, all of them trying to go in a different direction, but nothing is going anywhere. But productivity looks like a tiger on a mission to catch its prey, just going forward and allowing nothing to distract it from its goal. So one of the key things about being productive is, ‘are you distracted,’ and if so, what is it that you need to stop doing of what you’re doing?

One of the main things that totally distracts most people and wastes too much time, is checking email, or even checking social media first thing in the morning. Now, if that’s your job, like if you’re in customer service, or you’re in social media, that’s something different. But if you’re in bed and you reach over to grab your phone, the first thing you do is check email and check social media, you’re in total reactionary mode. Your mind is being distracted without reason by whatever else is out there.

So what you need to do is get control of your life. What you do is, don’t go look at your phone first. First, be grateful that you’re alive. Meditate or just think about what you are going to do this day, before you get out of bed, and then consciously direct your mind on what you’re going to do. One of the things that have helped me is, I put a plan together of what I’m going to do the night before, for the next day.

I usually plan out just the daily things, maybe one or two days out, maybe a week out.  Just as important as planning your daily activities, you’ve got to prioritize them  as well. Did you know that productive people actually end up having more time, more free time and more time to spend with their loved ones. But if you’re just always being busy, and use it as an excuse and somehow that feeds your ego some way, that’s only going to work for so long. Eventually you’re going to come face to face with yourself and you won’t be happy with the outcome!

If you want to be that high-performer, if you want to be that successful person, if you want to have that higher life design, you really have to determine the difference between busyness and productivity. Also consciously directing your mind of, what am I going to be doing today?  Who am I going to be if I don’t improve my English today?

Once again, think about it. Do you want to be productive, or do you just want to be busy? I assume you want to be productive.   So, in your daily plan, give yourself some time to concentrate on learning something new in English.  Write down the time in your calendar book, just like you have written the time we have a lesson. Maybe you only have 15 minutes in the morning, but still you can do something productive in 15 minutes.  Maybe it will be to read 5 new words and revise them?  Then maybe you have 30 minutes in the evening.  Instead of turning on the television, open up a book. Read an English book…any book that you want to read just for pleasure.  Read that book everyday, even if it is only one or two pages!  Soon, you will see how much of that book you have read.  I always have a book in the bathroom.  I do exactly that; I read one or two pages a day.  It is surprising how much you can read during this time!

If you want to learn English, you must spend some time practicing and reading and studying outside of class.  There is no reason why you should not be able to find some time for this.  You are not too busy; you are just not managing your time in a productive way.  So, slowly and methodically, is often the way to be more productive and reach your goals.  Now, make a plan…

You can learn better English and you can be more productive.

JANET’S PROFILE

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Kung Fu Skills Not Essential

So you love English, love social media, are open to relocating, perhaps to China, specially if you also have a keen interest in Kung Fu, yes? Then we have seen the perfect job opportunity for you!

You know that English has truly become the global language of choice when you see a situations vacant advertisement posted online by an ancient Chinese Buddhist temple seeking a
Brand Builder who is fluent in English!
Such is the fame of the 1,500 year old Shoalin temple, where the monks are known for their skills in martial arts such as Kung Fu, that the temple has become an shrine to martial arts lovers from across the globe.
Even though the temple is located in an isolated position, deep inside the mountains of Henan province, visitors are drawn to the site in order to experience for themselves the special form of Kung Fu practiced by the monks. Whilst most of the monks themselves do not speak English, in order to market and secure the temples brand globally, English has been chosen as the preferred language for the position advertised.
It just goes to show that the reach of English as an international language is still growing strong and is reaching even the most unexpected places.
The Guardian newspaper has more on this story. Have a read, it will certainly make you laugh yet they are totally serious. Could you, or someone you know, fit the bill?
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The Word Detectives

In the Scripps National Spelling Bee championship held in the USA, the joint teenage champions had to spell words such assdrucciola, holluschick, thymelici, encaenia, terreplein and stichomythia in order to win. Whether or not they understood the meanings of the words, it is an impressive feat indeed that they managed to spell words such as these correctly upon hearing them used only once.
 
Traditionally, especially when I was at school, spelling was taught by our teachers giving us a list of words on Monday, which was followed by a spelling test on Friday. This has been the case with spelling for many years, but I bet the teenage champions at the 2014 National Spelling Bee learned spelling in a completely different way.
Most spelling follows expected patterns, teaching how and why certain patterns are used helps you to develop your spelling. For example, various words containing the /ay/ sound are grouped by their spelling pattern into lists:
List 1 would contain the ‘ai’ words (rain, bait, brain, wait, grain, aim, aid…).
List 2 would give the ‘ay’ words (play, away, stay, pay, pray…).
List 3 would give the a-consonant-e spelling pattern (gate, trade, game, make, grade…).
List 4 would contain the single vowel ‘a’ spellings (rang, bank, thank, sang…).
List 5 would contain the ‘unexpected’ spellings of /ay/ (eight, weigh, great …).
 
Another way to investigate and understand the patterns is to group words beginning with the same letter. For example, the letter ‘C’ would contain words beginning with a ‘hard-c’ such as cat, or a ‘soft-c’ as in cell, and once these words are grouped together you will start to discover that ‘c’ is usually hard when followed by consonants and the vowels ‘a, o & u’ (cat, cot, cut etc…), whilst it is usually soft when followed by ‘i. e & y’ (circus, celery, cycle etc.).
 
There are always exceptions to these rules, but it’s a good way to learn spelling patterns which will eventually help amplify your vocabulary and improve your English!

Hold the front page!

I think that this little exercise is one of the most fun activities that you can do that will vastly improve your English when you are over the basic level. This is to imagine that you are a journalist for the day.
 
Watch an old Agatha Christie crime story, such as Hercule Poirot, or any crime series really for this little project, then write a front page article for the newspaper after watching either a clip or a full episode. Don’t just try to do a simple report that just states the facts, try to use your imagination, report perhaps what a certain character had witnessed, or even imagine you also had the opportunity to interview either Hercule himself, one of his sidekicks, or any of the many suspects in the case.

This little exercise will help you to use all your tenses, to describe past activities and the backgrounds of the people involved, where they have been and who or what they say they saw at the time. Also, practice how to describe the current activities of an on-going investigation as well as the planned future activities of the investigation.
 
Then perhaps think about the task of interviewing the individual characters from the investigation. Try to ask direct questions relating to the episode and the character’s role in the events in order to expand upon the original crime report. You could try creating your own video news report and practice your pronunciation too, to check how you sound when you speak English, and get your teacher or another native speaker to check your work. So the written English exercise turns into a spoken English exercise as well.
 

I think crime drama adds a bit of spice which helps to fire up the imagination. Why not try this on a wet and rainy Sunday afternoon?

Contact Rachel today > http://www.italki.com/teacher/1394345

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What would you do…. (Lost)

 Lost!

You are on a ship. A fire on board has destroyed the radio. From the rate the water is rising inside the ship you estimate that it will sink within two hours. You did not tell the authorities of your destination. It will take about 45 minutes to launch the only lifeboat which can only hold 4 people. You can’t jump as the water is shark infested. The nearest land is an uninhabited tropical island 30 km away.

Your task is to decide which people will enter the boat. Everyone has agreed to abide by your decision. Items held by individuals must stay with the owner; they cannot be transferred to other people.

Captain: age 57. Married three times; five children aged between 5 and 27. His youngest child has Down’s syndrome. Drinks and smokes heavily. Plays the accordion and carries a bottle of rum.

Cook: a former Special Forces officer reduced to working as a cook after being court-martialled following an unfortunate incident involving a torpedo and a presidential yacht. Carries a knife.

Anglican priest: a Philosophy graduate who taught English as a foreign language in South America for several years before returning to her home town to look after her disabled mother (now aged 85) with whom she still lives. Trained as a counsellor and was ordained in 1990. Carries a first aid kit.

Ship’s engineer’s wife: Aged 35 and about to begin maternity leave from her work as a medical sales representative. Due to give birth to their first child in 4 months time. For some reason known only to herself she happens to be carrying a fishing line and hook.

Travel agency owner: Has worked in the travel industry for 40 years and has been to every corner of the globe.  She talks a lot and has a family of 4 waiting for her back in Russia.   She is wearing very expensive jewelry and boasts about all of her vacation homes and luxurious items that she owns.

French Botany student: Lived in the Brazilian rainforest for eighteen months while carrying out Ph.D. research into plants that can be used in anti-cancer drugs: these are now undergoing testing by a major multinational pharmaceutical company. Voted for Le Pen in the last election. Has a rifle.

Photographer: Has traveled all over the world shooting for magazine advertisements.  In his bag he has a camera, a telescope and a tool kit.

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Which 4 are going on the boat?  Why did you choose these people?  Comment below…

 

 

This article was originally published by the British Council on 20 January 2014. You can view the original post on their website or visit me at The Teacher Abroad.

 

RACHEL’S PROFILE